Khmer boxing (also known as: Kun Khmer or Pradal sereys) is a martial art and combat sport from Cambodia. In the Angkor era (Khmer Empire, which flourished from approximately the 9th to 15th centuries) both armed and unarmed martial arts were practiced by the Khmers. At that time, the

kingdom of Angkor dominated and controlled most of what is now Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam and Laos, influencing Thai and Lao culture (also has influenced much of the basis Muay Thai).

During the colonial period, martial arts like pradal serey were considered by the European colonists to be brutal. The French turned the art into a sport by adding timed rounds, a boxing ring and western boxing gloves to avoid injury (Originally, hands were wrapped in ropes).

On April 17, 1975, the Maoist Communist rebels, the Khmer Rouge, overthrew the government of the Khmer Republic, and traditional martial arts were banned. Then, restored the Kingdom of Cambodia, the country's traditional arts were revived, including Khmer boxing. Currently, the Khmer boxing is widely practiced in Cambodia, there are over 50 Kun Khmer fights held every week in the Phnom Penh region (At the 2005 Southeast Asian Games, Cambodia did not enter the Muay Thai events to protest for the name used to refer to the sport)

Cambodian bokator Is one of the earliest systemised Khmer martial art, like mae mai for thai boxing. Is an art for warriors on battle ground and includes weapons techniques. In the agonistic version differs from khmer and Thay boxing for the bare hands (whith bends, or grappling gloves like mma) and the wrestling, standing and ground. Bizarre may appear the way of ritual moving, often used in competitive matches (definitely not very practical) see on wikipedia

Bok - pounding Tor - Lion

From a technical point of view, the Khmer boxing is similar to Thai boxing, and, if possible, even more bloody.